NEWARK, Del. - - Playing in his final regular season home game at the WU Athletics Complex, senior Max Norden tied the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest with Georgian Court, 1-1, in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the year.
The tie gave the Wildcats a point in the CACC standings as they remain in fifth place with two games to play. They are now 6-5-4 overall and 4-3-2 in CACC play. The top four teams host a First Round playoff game.
The Lions (4-7-3, 3-4-2 CACC) had the first opportunity in the game, but Mathias Madersbacher's shot rang off the post in the ninth minute. Malthe Hannesbo had the best chance for the Wildcats in the first half just moments later, but his header to the near post was saved in the 11th minute.
The Wildcats outshot the Lions, 12-3, in the first half, but the teams went into the halftime break deadlocked at 0-0.
Wilmington had the first four shots in the second half, but three were blocked and one was from Ryuga Uchigashima was saved.
Georgian Court's first chance in the second chance ended up in the back of the net in the 58th minute. Off the restart in their own end, Alessandro Cavallini beat Sora Noda to a ball on the right side and was in alone on goal. He passed it across the face of the goal to find Joseph Ficarotta, but the ball ricocheted off Ficarotta and off the Wilmington defense and into the back of the net.
A foul just outside the box gave the Wildcats the chance they needed in the 82nd minute. Troy Paul lined it up against the four-man wall and nearly curved the ball around the blockade. But the deflection went right to Max Norden who was charging in on goal, and he collected the rebound and scored it himself, tying the game, 1-1.
With the clock winding down, Yarek Carnegie nearly won it for the Wildcats. He got into the box on the right side and got the shot passed the Lion goalkeeper, but the Lions' defense was there to clear it off the line with 40 seconds to play.
The Wildcats outshot the Lions, 26-5, in the game, including 14-2 in the second half. They also earned more corners, 7-0, than the Lions.
The Wildcats have two games remaining in the regular season, starting with Felician on Saturday. They will play under the lights in Northern New Jersey, with the opening whistle set for 8:00 p.m.